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Installing on Windows

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To install SearchBlox on Windows, follow the steps below. This guide includes downloading the installer, running the setup wizard, and configuring SearchAI PrivateLLM.

Steps to Install SearchBlox on Windows

  1. Download the SearchBlox installer for Windows from the following link:
    Download SearchBlox Windows Installer
  2. Run the Installer as Administrator:
    Right-click the downloaded searchblox_windows64.exe file and select Run as Administrator.
    The Install4j Wizard will start the installation process.
  1. Follow the Installation Wizard:
    Welcome Screen: Click Next to proceed.

Choose Installation Directory: Select the directory where SearchBlox will be installed (e.g., C:\SearchBlox).

Startup Shortcut: The installer will create a startup shortcut by default. Click Next to proceed.

Installation Progress: Wait for the installation to complete.

Installation Complete: Click Finish to complete the installation.

  1. The installer will install SearchBlox along with Opensearch for this application.

  2. Install SearchAI PrivateLLM:
    Follow the steps in the SearchAI PrivateLLM Installation Guide to install and configure the PrivateLLM.
    Steps to Install SearchAI PrivateLLM .

  3. Download and Configure the Ranker Model:
    Download the ranker model from the following link:
    ranker.zip
    Extract the downloaded ranker.zip file.

  4. Navigate to the <SearchBlox-installation>/webapps/ROOT/models directory (e.g., C:\SearchBlox\webapps\ROOT\models).
    Place the extracted ranker folder in the models directory.

Prerequisites

  • After installation please set JAVA_HOME and environment path variable for Java.

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Please Note

If there are other Java versions installed in the system, please remove the references from the path variable.

To set the environment variable

  1. Right-click on My Computer, select Properties and click Advanced System Settings.
  2. On the Advanced tab, select Environment Variables.
  1. Create a new System Variable JAVA_HOME with value C:\SearchBloxServer\jre

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NOTE

  • If SearchBlox is installed on D drive then JAVA_HOME value will be D:\SearchBloxServer\jre
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  1. Select Path under System Variable and add %JAVA_HOME%\bin as a new path.

  1. Verify if Java is installed correctly by running the command: java -version

Steps to Install SearchAI PrivateLLM

Post-Installation Setup

  1. Navigate to Ollama Directory
    Access the installation folder:
    C:\SearchBloxServer\ollama

  2. Download Model Files
    Obtain the required models package:
    SearchAI PrivateLLM models

  3. Update Model Files
    Extract the downloaded models.zip
    Replace existing files in: C:\SearchBloxServer\ollama\models

  4. Run Ollama Setup
    Execute the installer:
    C:\SearchBloxServer\ollama\ollamaSetup.exe
    Environment Configuration

  5. Set OLLAMA_MODELS and environment path variable as shown in the following:)

    • Follow step 1 and 2 from (Prerequisites

    • Create a new User Variable OLLAMA_MODELS with value C:\SearchBloxServer\ollama\models

      Name: OLLAMA_MODELS  
Value: C:\SearchBloxServer\ollama\models

    • Click on OK.

  6. Restart the Windows Server.

  7. After restart, open the following link to checkSearchAI PrivateLLM, default port is 11434.
    http://localhost:<port>

Start SearchBlox Service

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NOTE:

Before starting SearchBlox Service, SearchAI PrivateLLM should be installed and running,to install SearchAI PrivateLLM follow Steps to Install Ollama.

  1. Navigate to:
    C:\SearchBloxServer\service
  2. Right-click install-service and select Run as Administrator

Starting the Service

Method 1: Windows Services Console
Open: Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Services
Locate Searchblox Enterprise Search
Right-click and select Start

Method 2: Direct Start
In the Services console:
Right-click SearchAI > Start

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Troubleshooting

  • Restart the Windows Server if you are not able to start SearchBlox.
  • Check if Elasticsearch service is running.
  • SearchBlox service will start automatically upon server restart.

Accessing Admin Console

  • Wait 30 seconds after service start
    Open: 
    https://localhost:8443/console/
    Accept License Agreement
  • You will be taken to Create a Super Admin Create Password Page.

Use the Super Admin password to log in and access the dashboard page.

Verify Installation

  • Check Status Logs
    Navigate to:C:\SearchBloxServer\webapps\ROOT\logs\status.log
    Confirm the presence of "SearchBlox Started" message
    Review for any error messages if startup fails
  • View Account Information
    Click the Avatar Icon in top-right corner of Admin Console
    Verify your SearchBlox account details and system information

You can see the SearchBlox Account details by clicking the Avatar Icon.

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Note

Change SearchBlox Server Port

  • Default Configuration
    SearchBlox operates on port 8443 by default
    For production environments, refer to Secure Ports documentation for recommended configurations Requirements

You can change the port by following the steps as shown here:Port Modification Procedure

  1. Service Shutdown
    Stop the SearchBlox service through:
    Windows Services Console, or
    Command Prompt: net stop searchblox
  2. Configuration Update
    Navigate to:
    C:\SearchBloxServer\start.d\https.ini
    Add or modify the port directive:
    jetty.ssl.port=[YOUR_PORT_NUMBER]
    (Example: jetty.ssl.port=443 for HTTPS default port)
  3. Service Restart
    Save the modified https.ini file
    Restart SearchBlox service:
    Services Console, or
    Command Prompt: net start searchblox

SearchBlox Installation on alternate drive or path

We recommend installing SearchBlox in the C:\ drive. Please follow the following steps if you wish to install SearchBlox on a different drive. For example, if you want to install in D:\ drive, follow the below steps:

  1. Download SearchBlox for Windows.
  2. Run the Installation Wizard and give the preferred installation path. By default, it will be C:\SearchBloxServer change it to D:\SearchBloxServer.
  • For the next steps refer Installation on Windows section from step 3 and 4.
  • Set the Java Environment variable for the location (example: D: drive or E: drive).
  • To set the Java Environment variable follow the steps from Prerequisites section.

To update Elasticsearch/Analytics installation path:

  • Go toD:\SearchBloxServer\webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF.
  • In searchblox.yml file, in the lines 7, change the value of es.home to D:\SearchBloxServer\opensearch.
# ======================== SearchBlox Configuration =========================
searchblox.deployment.type: onPrem
searchblox.elasticsearch.host: localhost
searchblox.elasticsearch.port: 9200
searchblox.elasticsearch.basic.username: xxxxxxxxxx
searchblox.elasticsearch.basic.password: xxxxxxxxxxx
es.home: D:\SearchBloxServer\opensearch

searchblox.refresh_interval: 4s
searchblox.shards: 1
searchblox.replicas: 0
searchblox.http.crawldepth: -1
searchblox.user.expiry: 30

http.lastmodified.header: SearchBlox-Last-modified
  • Now save the searchblox.yml file.
  • To Start the SearchBlox service, go to D:\SearchBloxServer\service and follow the steps from the Start SearchBlox service section.

Uninstall SearchBlox

  1. Stop SearchBlox Service
    Navigate to:Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Services
    Locate "SearchAI" service
    Right-click and select Stop
  1. Uninstall Windows Service
    Navigate to:
    C:\SearchBloxServer\service
    Right-click uninstall-service
    Select Run as Administrator
  1. Run Main Uninstaller
    Locate uninstall.exe in your installation directory
    Double-click to execute
    Follow on-screen prompts

SearchBlox Uninstallation successful.

  1. Final Cleanup
    Manually delete the installation folder:
    C:\SearchBloxServer
    Remove any remaining: Environment variables, Scheduled tasks, Temporary files

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Note

After the uninstallation, it is required to restart the machine when prompted. This action will terminate all the existing background services if any.

Updated 5 days ago

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